White Ward – False Light
Release Date: 17th June 2022
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Death, Experimental, Jazz Metal, Post-Punk, Post-Black Metal.
FFO: Unreqvited, Numenorean, Ghost Bath, (early) Lantlôs.
Review By: Jason James
White Ward unleashes another splinter bomb with their third full length album, False Light. Carrying on from 2019’s Love Exchange Failure, the Ukrainian outfit, which consists of Yurii Kazarian on Guitars and Vocals, Andrii Pechatkin on Vocals, Bass and Lyrics, Mykola Previr on Guitars, Ievgen Karamushko on Drums and Dima Dudko on Saxophone, deal out 8 tracks of both brutal thrashing and benign calm.
After every couple of hefty, high-energy anthems, there is a lull in the carnage. Track 2, Salt Paradise, and track 5, Echoes in Eternity, allow the listener to take a breath before plunging back into the musical massacre. Salt Paradise has a funerial, dirge-like quality, whereas Echoes in Eternity almost sounds like it could feature on a smooth jazz album. Almost. The sax flows soulfully over subdued drums and a moog-like air on the instrumentation. But then, in the background, there is a building sense of dread that rises as the drums fade out towards the end of the track and the instrumentation begins to undulate and distort. It’s like those scenes in horror movies after something traumatic happens, and the protagonist thinks they’re safe, but then the music will slowly begin to sound off-key and sinister as it builds towards the next scare.
Track 8, Downfall, is a dreamlike end to the album. Atmospheric strings glide over a restrained piano, as if the album is now allowing you to relax, as if the sun has just peaked through the clouds after a storm. Underneath is a section of commentary speaking on the nature of man.
The addition of the sax lends a different dimension to the sound. It doesn’t seem out of place, and weaves in and out of the manic savagery on display. For me, it didn’t add anything specific, but it definitely didn’t detract from the songs either.
Some might be wary of the style of the album. Quiet sections on metal albums are usually part of the songs, but White Ward have made sure to make the quiet sections of their albums their own individual pieces. I personally enjoyed the fact that I could just listen to these sections or just the dramatic sections. But this album is best listened to in the order it is presented.
I indulged in False Light and look forward to hearing more.
(3 / 5)
